Buffalo
Bob Smith (born Robert
Emil Schmidt; November 27, 1917 – July 30, 1998) was the host of the
children's show Howdy Doody. Born
in Buffalo, New York, as
Robert Emil Schmidt, he attended Masten Park High School. Schmidt
got his start in radio in Buffalo at WGR (AM)
though switched from WGR to WBEN's late morning radio slot in 1943, as part of a move
which also brought Clint Buehlman's early morning show over from WGR to WBEN at
the same time. (The WBEN morning slot had opened when its host, future NBC-TV
personality Jack Paar, was drafted into the military.) WBEN
was seeking to break WGR's #1 position in local popularity and shaking the
position of network-fed Don McNeil's Breakfast Club's grip on ratings for the 9
am time slot was an important part of the plan. WBEN first brought Clint
Buehlman's popular early morning show, which ended at 9am, followed by 15
minutes of local news, over from WGR. Then, Buffalo Bob appeared at 9:15 am.
Within a period of time, Smith had won the #1 spot in late mornings for WBEN
and McNeil dropped to second in the Buffalo market. Smith's popularity in
Buffalo won the attention of NBC, which brought him to New York after the war
to host early mornings on flagship station WNBC,
a post he held through the early 1950s before concentrating on television. For
a time between 1947 and 1953 he appeared mornings on WNBC while hosting and
producing the daily Howdy Doody show. The puppet Howdy Doody was based on a
caricature of Mr. Smith's sister, Esther. She was employed at a department
store and Howdy was the spitting image of her. Smith also was known as a singer
and musician, appearing on many top shows of the time before and even after
becoming nationally known for the Howdy Doody show. At first
it aired on Saturdays, then on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and finally,
five times a week. In 1954, Smith suffered a heart attack and for a time, he
did the show from a studio built in the basement of his home in Mount Vernon, New York. He
returned to the NBC studio in 1955. The final NBC Howdy Doody episode
aired in 1960. Later, in 1976, Smith reunited with longtime show producer E. Roger Muir and several of the original cast to produce
a new daily syndicated Howdy Doody show.
David Marc describes a show:
Smith who built it into an enduring hit
and one of television's first profitable franchises for licensed product tie‐ins....Whereas
other 1950s children's series were appreciated by adults for their tender wit—such
as Burr Tillstrom's puppet show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie"—or
were presented for educational value—such as "Ask Mr. Wizard", a science show—the Howdy Doody Show was
strictly aimed at pleasing children, which it did to dizzying excess. With an
audience of screaming kids filling the “Peanut Gallery” onstage to energize the
millions watching at home, Buffalo Bob in cowboy buckskins opened each show by shouting
out the signature question, “Hey kids, what time is it?” The verbal response by
the audience, “It's Howdy Doody Time!” cued a rousing theme song, which
inspired salty parodies in schoolyards across the country. The energy and
decibel levels of the show were kept high throughout. When not taking a
pratfall—sometimes on an actual banana peel—Smith was the target of Clarabell's
high‐pressure seltzer bottle. The show was
particularly effective in its relentless use of words and nonsense syllables
designed to drive children giddy with laughter. Flub‐a‐Dub,
for instance, was a fantasy animal character which could survive only by eating
meatballs. Such songs as “Ooga Booga Rocka Shmooga” and “Iggly Wiggly Spaghetti”
sent the Peanut Gallery into paroxysms of laughter.